The present invention relates to an electrical connector. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electrical connector having a housing cover covering a terminal supporting member.
When an electrical connector is connected to a personal computer, a keyboard, a mouse, a printer, and the likes, for example, there may be a case in which the connector is twisted because an insertion direction of the connector is wrong, thereby applying an excessive force to the connector. In order to protect the connector from such force, in general, a housing cover made of metal covers a portion protruding toward a mating connector.
However, it is difficult to obtain enough strength by simply covering the portion protruding toward the mating connector. As a result, there is a problem in which a terminal is damaged due to twist and the likes. In order to solve such a problem, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-17176, a part of a metal cover is situated in a space of a housing.
FIG. 19 shows a metal shell of a connector disclosed in the publication. In the conventional example, an upper half 113 of a base portion of a cylindrical portion 113 of the metal shell protrudes toward a housing. The upper half 113 thus protruded is inserted into a space of a housing (not shown), thereby increasing strength of the housing. However, it is still difficult to obtain enough strength by inserting only the upper half of the metal shell. Further, the connector is separately formed of a housing main body holding a terminal and a housing cover into which the metal shell is inserted, thereby increasing the number of the parts and a height of a fitting portion.
[Patent Reference 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-17176
In view of the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector, in which it is possible to sufficiently increase strength of, especially, a terminal supporting member protruding toward a mating connector with a metal shell, and to provide a lock on the terminal supporting member for locking the mating side of the connection.
Further objects will be apparent from the following description of the invention.